Plaid delay to allow MP a chance to become AM
PLAID Cymru has delayed the selection of a candidate to contest what should be its safest seat in the 2021 National Assembly election to maximise the chance of its Parliamentary leader Liz Saville Roberts being able to put her name forward.
In an interview with the Western Mail, Ms Saville Roberts told us that she wanted to stand for election to the Assembly, but with the current Brexit uncertainty, she considered her place was at Westminster.
Dwyfor Meirionnydd – and its predecessor seats – has been held by Plaid Cymru at Westminster since 1974, and at the Assembly since it was set up in 1999.
Between 1974 and 1992 the MP was Dafydd Elis-Thomas, and from 1984 until 1991 he was the party’s leader. In 1992 he did not stand for re-election, but accepted a peerage.
Since 1999 he has been elected at five successive elections as the Plaid Cymru AM for Dwyfor Meirionnydd, but months after being re-elected in 2016 he resigned from the party as a result of an acrimonious relationship with its then leader Leanne Wood, and has since sat as an Independent.
Since November 2017 he has been a member of the Welsh Government, and currently serves as the Deputy Minister for Culture, Tourism and Sport.
After quitting Plaid Cymru, he was urged by his former colleagues to resign and fight a by-election, but he refused to do so.
Ms Saville Roberts was first elected as MP for Dwyfor Meirionnydd in 2015, retaining the seat two years later.
Plaid Cymru was due to begin the process of selecting a new Assembly candidate for the constituency on April 1, but has decided to hold back for the time being.
One prominent member of the Dwyfor Meirionnydd party, who did not wish to be named, said: “Some people think that Dafydd El [as he is widely known] will easily be defeated by whoever is the Plaid candidate, but that is unrealistic.
“He was first elected to Parliament as long ago as 1974, and is very wellknown. If Plaid are going to beat him, the party needs someone who is also well-known and popular.
“Liz Saville Roberts is a very popular local MP, and we believe she could beat Dafydd El. But a less wellknown candidate is likely to find it much more difficult to beat him.”
Simon Brooks, a university lecturer and Plaid town councillor in Porthmadog, said: “I would be very happy to support Liz, who is extremely capable and a very popular local MP.
“If she is the Assembly candidate, I believe there is little doubt that she would win. People would look at who was best equipped to represent the interests of this rural part of Wales, and the Plaid Cymru candidate would be the obvious choice.
“But in the current circumstances, it makes sense to hold back from selecting a candidate to give Liz the opportunity to put her name forward.
“She has been a credit to the party and to Wales in the way she has dealt with Brexit, looking much more impressive than the Tories and Labour.”
Another local Plaid member, who wanted to remain anonymous, said: “The worst thing Plaid could do would be to select an ambitious party apparatchik who is not wellknown in the constituency. That would make it much easier for Dafydd El to present himself as the independent-minded candidate with experience who has the constituency’s interests at heart.
“I think that if Liz stands, Dafydd probably wouldn’t. He wouldn’t want to end his political career with a defeat.”
Asked about the prospect of her standing for the Assembly, Ms Saville Roberts said: “I find myself, because of the realistic possibility of a general election and the sheer chaos of Westminster ... that, at the moment is where I have to be.
“For anybody in Plaid Cymru, where you want to be able to make a difference, the place to be is Cardiff. That is undeniable. But as things stand, with Westminster being as chaotic as it is, it would be irresponsible not to be there.
“Dwyfor Meirionnydd has been later than other constituencies in selecting an Assembly candidate. It may hold back a little longer. It’s not entirely in my hands – it’s not in my hands at all, in fact.
“Dafydd Elis-Thomas is his own master, and he will do what he does. He will not have what he had previously in the constituency, namely the structure of party support in campaigning and canvassing – and in an area like Dwyfor Meirionnydd, which is 843 square miles, that is a considerable consideration.”
Elfyn Llwyd, Ms Saville Roberts’ predecessor as MP for the constituency, has also been mentioned as a possible Assembly candidate.
Lord Elis-Thomas did not respond to our request for a comment.